Discussions on various subjects ranging from water conservation, weight loss, overall health, legal issues and questions and anything else that tickles my fancy.
I also maintain our website: www.hawgwash.net if you want to see what we as a business have to offer.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Tonight, I have been very frustrated by all the politics going on all over the country. At this point, I don't want to say I agree with any one side or another, they all are dopes...(that is being nice...). Because of that, when I saw this brief story, I really enjoyed it and thought it worth posting:

"Monkeys

Start with a cage containing 5 monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana.

As soon as the monkey touches the stairs, spray all the other monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes the attempt with the same result, all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put the cold water away. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees teh banana and wants to climb the stairs. To it's shock, all of the other monkeys beat the snot out of him. After another attempt and attack, he knows htat if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm.

Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, and then, finally the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.

Most of the monkeys that are beating him up have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, OR even why they are participating in teh beating of the newest monkey.

Finally, after replacing all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana.

Why not, you may ask?

Because as far as the monkeys know, that is the way it has always been done around here.

And that, my fellow monkeys, is how Congress operates. And precisely why we need to REPLACE all of the original monkeys this November."

Friday, July 30, 2010

Well, I was unable to attend the annual STEMTech convention this year, but did have the opportunity to watch some of the events through the Internet. It was not as good as being there, but even through the Internet you could feel and see the energy at this annual event. The biggest buzz regarding the annual convention was the new product release from STEMTech. We were not given any indication of what the product could be, other than it worked with the existing STEMTech product line.

As the web cast opened, we were introduced to Ray Carter (President and CEO)and Christian Drapeau (Chief Science Officer). They danced around the idea of telling us what the new product would be but decided against telling all of us until later in the meeting. The excitement in the room was palpable. What Ray and Christian did unveil was a newer, cleaner STEMTech logo, which is great, and they introduced some new and even better ways to earn additional income with STEMTech. They also simplified the brochures for all of us to use. Not only that, but they have finally come out with a simplified brochure for us to explain the compensation plan.

The compensation plan for STEMTech is already quite good, but there was no real overview of how the plan worked. You actually had to sit down with others and discover your own short version of the comp plan. Now we will have the ability to have a standardized short version which we can leave in your hands for review. Our various groups had developed our own simplified version of the compensation plan, but this now makes the summarization global and consistent. That was AWESOME!

After reviewing the brochures, Ray and Christian explained some new global bonus pools that will be available for all of us starting August 1st. These pools look awesome, but it was explained so fast (and the web cast was a bit bumpy..) that I will not even briefly cover those here until the plans are posted on the website.

Finally, after much teasing and a break Christian came back out to start telling us about the ingredients and concept that is part of the new product release from STEMTech. To backtrack a little, we currently have our flagship product, StemEnhance which allows your body to release about 25% more of your own adult stem cells from your bone marrow into your circulatory system. We then have a product, StemFLO which improves blood circulation and helps the released stem cells to be circulated into the areas of need. These products used together do a great job in keeping us feeling good, helping our bodies to renew themselves and for overall good health. So, what could be added to this that would enhance what we already have????

It is a product called ST5 with Migrastem (not sure on the spelling, couldn't see the PowerPoint slides well through the web cast). According to Christian, in scientific studies conducted, Migrastem (sp?) supports the adult stem cell migration into the tissues of the body. When a tissue is in need, Migrastem manages to improve the migration of the needed adult stem cells into that particular tissue. Now we have a means of not only releasing more adult stem cells into our circulatory system, and improved circulation so the adult stem cells can get to where they need to go, we now have a system that will allow those adult stem cells get absorbed better into those tissues in need. Pretty awesome stuff.

ST5 is a powder that can be mixed in any liquid. It will aid in the body's renewal process, will provide balanced/sustained energy, provides added vitamins and minerals so that you do not have to continue taking those multi-vitamins, because of the protein and fiber in ST5, it is an appetite satisfying product (you will not feel as hungry because your body is getting the protein and fiber it needs) and it low calorie which helps reduce body fat and improve muscles.

Some highlights of ST5 is that it is 150 calories and is more of a dietary supplement, not a meal replacement; it has 14 grams of protein, 2 grams of fat. It is gluten free and has no artificial items in it at all. ST5 sounds like an awesome product, I can't wait to get my hands on some and play with it.

After the conference I will have more specifics on ST5, but you can bet, I am very excited about this addition to the STEMTech product line. The attendees at the conference were able to drink samples of ST5 and I believe ST5 was ready for purchase (the web cast ended before that part of the conference was over - imagine my frustration when the web cast ended when Christian was in mid-sentence...). Keep your eye on this blog on Monday to see what else has occurred at the conference. There was no other scheduled web cast, so we will all have to wait until after conference for us to get the remaining information from the attendees. The new product release from STEMTech, ST5 is very exciting, once we get it in our hot little hands, you can taste it and start feeling immediate benefits... We all look forward to getting this product out into the field and showing the world how this additional product will help improve overall health and wellness.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

I am going to try something new tonight, we are going to look at a millionaire and see what pearls of wisdom they can provide us as we strive to grow our home based business, or as we strive to grow personally. I will work to find either a millionaire or billionaire each week and discover where they came from, what might make them tick and what bits of information we can use personally.

This week's millionaire spotlight is on Elon Musk. Elon Musk is not an old man, he was born in 1971 and currently lives in Bel-Air, California. He was born and raised in South Africa, emigrated to Canada in 1989 at the ripe age of 17. While he was growing up in South Africa, he got his first computer at 10 and taught himself how to program. By the age of 12, he had sold his first program, a space game called Blaster.

When in Canada he worked summers cleaning out grain bins and working in the vegetable patch. He also cleaned out boilers and later cut logs with a chainsaw. He started college at Queen's University in Toronto, then moved to the United States after receiving a scholarship to the study business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania. He did receive his undergraduate degree from Wharton and stayed an additional year so that he could complete his second bachelor's degree in physics.

As you can see from this brief bio (and we are not done...) this is very much a driven man. It does not look like he allowed many things to distract him from his vision. After he completed both of his undergraduate degrees, he decided there were three areas that he wanted to get involved with (his "important problems"): Internet, clean energy and space. How many of us had such a clear picture of where we wanted to work?

Elon Musk is the co-founder of PayPal, is currently the Chairman of Solar City and CEO of Telsa Motors and SpaceX. So, even after all these years and no doubt many challenges, he continued to work towards his initial "important problems"; Internet, space and clean energy. Interestingly he is currently listed as Time Magazine's 100 people who most affect the world in 2010. He was also the inspiration for the genius billionaire, Tony Stark (the character in the newest Iron Man movie). He describes himself as a workaholic.

As you can see, Elon Musk really started life not much differently than we did. He just seemed to have a very clear picture of what he wanted to do and did not waver in that path. He continues to work toward resolving his "important problems". His views in business are very useful too. He is willing to take risks, when he was developing rockets for space exploration, he tried to learn as much as possible from prior private sector attempts. In his mind, if nothing else, he was committed to failing in a new way. As you can see, he had no qualms about failing because with each failure, you learn what not to do the next time. Eventually, with enough failures, you will succeed, and Elon Musk was willing to take calculated risks in order to ultimately succeed.

In business we all must realize that there is always a risk of failure. The advantage of failure is that with each failure, you have now learned what will not work and can then try again. If you don't fail, you don't learn. How many times did Thomas Edison try to make a light bulb before he was successful. New innovations would never be possible if people didn't make efforts ad fail at them. Eventually, you get the right formula and become wildly successful. We all need to keep this idea in mind so when faced with a failure, we can get back up, dust ourselves off and continue working towards success.

If you are frustrated with your current financial situation and are looking for a second income source, please feel free to visit our website. We may have something that will interest you and something that may bring additional income into your life. Please feel free to contact us with any questions, we would love to help, even if it is to help point you in a different direction. Our goal is to help you achieve your financial goals, however (legally) you wish to do that.

I would love some feedback on this millionaire spotlight. Is this something you would like to see weekly? Monthly? Never? Is there some other topic you would prefer I periodically review? Let me know...

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Wow, what a question. Actually it is a partial question that was brought up in a conversation yesterday with regards to working your own home based business. There was frustration in the slow growth of the business and the other person commented about the "Penny Doubled Concept". The full question is, would you rather have $10,000.00 now or a penny doubled every day for a month. So we explored this concept with an eye towards working a home based business.

I bet your initial reaction would be to take the ten thousand dollars today and run. If you first think about it, today you get a penny, tomorrow you get two pennies, the day after that, you get four pennies. Initially, the growth looks very slow and painful. Just like starting a home-based business. You start your business and if you are lucky, you will start getting business, but usually it is in very small increments and can be painful at how slowly your business activities will grow.

If you follow the penny doubled concept through the 30 days though, the story looks different. Continue doubling the pennies each day. Compounding starts looking really good. By the time you get to 15 days, with doubling your penny every day, you will have $163.84. Heck, that really doesn't look like much after 15 days does it? Again, after perhaps a few months in your home-based business, it may not look like much either. You will most likely have more sales, but still not the amount of sales you had originally projected. Half-way through your business year, you may be getting worried about your home-based business being profitable over the long haul. But, you really do need to hang on because we haven't finished compounding that one penny doubled....

If on day 15 you $163.84, on day 16 you would have $327.68, looking better, the next day, you would have $655.36. Now the numbers are really starting to grow. By day 20 you would have earned $5,242.88, by day 25 you would have $167,772.16. Wow, that was only 25 days of doubling that one penny. By day 30 if you continued to double the money, you would have earned $5,368,709.12. In just 30 days!

Move this concept to your business. If you strive to double your new customers once a month (keeping the initial customers) then think of how large your business will be in 30 months. Granted this is a relatively extreme example, but the point is that persistence does pay off even in starting up a small home based businesses. You will start off slow. You will get one or two people purchasing from you. Then eventually those happy customers will tell some of their friends and one or two of them will come in and become a customer of yours. If you continue that trend, you are basically copying the Penny Doubling Concept. The main object here is to be persistent and not to get discouraged. Tenacity and persistence will pay out in the end.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Tonight's topic will be brief, but hopefully relevant. Have you ever had one of those days? No, really, one of THOSE days? One of those days where no matter what you do, time just slips away from you. Today was one of those days for me. The day started off well, I woke up. Waking up is always a good thing. So, since today was not booked with a bunch of appointments, it looked like it was going to be a great day to get things done.

Boy, was I off about that. Granted, I did get things done, but not in the order and quantity that I would have liked to have them completed. For starters, the network was nice and slow this morning. Usually we have connection issues later in the evening, but today was not good from the morning. That is not too bad, but I tend to get distracted if I have to wait any amount of time for a screen to refresh. I am sure you have all had the same issues over time. So, as I was waiting for the screen to refresh, I kept fiddling with papers on my desk, which I then proceeded to knock over and have to collect and re-stack...yep, one of THOSE days...

Today seemed like one of those joke e-mails you may have received. You start one thing, need something else to finish the first project, and continue to get distracted all day long only to finally finish the day and discover that you are pooped and have nothing completed. Today wasn't to that extreme, but I sure didn't get nearly as much done as I would have liked.

I guess you could say that the funny part about today is that the car finally got cleaned, only to have a massive rain storm roll through this evening. I am not sure what the car will look like tomorrow, but I am pretty sure it will look OK with a few bits of dust and leaves stuck to it. Luckily our waterless wash does not allow much to mess up a vehicle after it was cleaned, but it does get frustrating to find out that within hours of cleaning your vehicle it got rained on....a bunch. The good news is that we finally got rain. I have been hoping for rain for a few weeks now.

We have watched the thunder clouds roll overhead, we have watched them rain heavily on the mountains, but we only got a few drops of rain each time. I am so happy to have had a good gully-washer today. It was a great opportunity to clean off my roof, clean out the drain pipes of any critters that took up residence (and we did have a few of those). I was able to wander out to the pool in between down pours and pull out some big beetles that were washed into the pool. I don't know if I should have, but I fished them out and let them go. If these beetles mess up any of my plants, I will hunt them down....

Anyway, even though I didn't get too much accomplished today, I can almost justify today as a 'rest' day. Got the necessary errands done, did get some networking done, got e-mails cleared, and got my blog written. Not a bad day, but not one of my stellar days either.

The good news is that I managed to find a new recipe to try for dinner and it didn't turn into a colossal mess. There are many times that I find recipes that look good, but once I try them, the food is not fit for anyone or anything to eat. This recipe will need some tweaking, but it tasted pretty darned good the way it was written. Since I am not the most inspired cook on the planet, I do not have the talent to read a recipe and know what is missing. I have to cook it as I read it and then make notes on what needs to be done next. So, this recipe was OK, just needed some jazzing up and it will be a very enjoyable recipe. So, once I get the recipe to my liking, I will let you guys know what it is and offer it up as something easy to cook and it tastes good...

So, overall, today was not a bad day, but I just couldn't complete all the things I wanted to do and kept losing track of time... It was one of those days, but we all need that occasionally so we can appreciate when everything does come together.

If you or someone you know is looking for second income sources, or looking for some business opportunity just to keep busy, please feel free to visit our website, www.hawgwash.net. We may have something that will interest you. If anything, please feel free to visit and read the weekly quote that is updated on Mondays...

Monday, July 26, 2010

Well, happy Monday one and all. Tonight is going to be another installment of fun historical facts and tonight we are going to explain why "giving the finger" got started. I found this information to be very interesting...

Apparently, before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the English Longbow and therefore the English soldiers would be unable to fight. (As an aside, the English Longbow was made from the native English yew tree. The act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew". ) Much to the surprise of the French, the English won the Battle at Agincourt and once they found out the French plans to cut their fingers off, the English would mock the French by waving their middle fingers at them saying, "See, we can still pluck yew!"

So, based on the above information, three guesses how the phrase "pluck yew" got turned around in modern language. Still, I may have now answered the "why do we wave the middle finger" question, but what about when we call it 'giving the bird'? Well, I am glad you asked... Did you know that they used pheasant feathers on the arrows? Well, if you were shot with an arrow, you were "given the bird", so if you had to use your middle finger to pull the longbow (which the French wanted to cut off of the English soldiers), the combination of waving your middle finger was given the connotation of "giving the bird". So there you go. Now if you see someone wiggling their middle finger at you, you can give them some historical facts about it. Be sure you can run fast if they are not history buffs though...

Here is something to keep in mind this week: Did you know that laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system? Six year olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. (have you seen many stressed out six-year olds?) Adults laugh only about 15 to 100 times a day. So, the key here is to laugh like a six year old? Explain to your boss why you laugh so much... that in itself will get you a laugh.

Oh yeah, one more little tidbit that I got a kick out of. Did you know that every time you sneeze, some of your brain cells die? Scary for those of us with allergies.....

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Tonight's blog may sound a bit strange, but there is a logic to it. Since the Internet has become so popular for searching things out, I have likened it to being the world's largest library. You can research almost anything under the sun from the comfort of your own home. Pretty neat stuff. The problem I have encountered, especially in the last few months, is the mountain of information that is being sent to be via e-mail. It is getting to be so much that I cannot keep up with all the reading. So, I have begun to wonder how much you can read in a day?

What started this problem of mine was research. Yes, I have been researching. And I bet you all thought I just chattered this stuff from off the top of my head. Depending on the subject matter, I do a good amount of research so that I can stay current on various trends. I also look up things that I find interesting, like locating all of the versus and history on our National Anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner". I always loved research, loved going into the library, so once the Internet became so accessible, I have just moved my passion for research to the Internet. If I want to know something, instead of just wondering, I will go and look it up. Our family used to have two sets of encyclopedias in the house just for such occasions. Now I no longer need those wonderful books, I have the Internet.

But, I digress. How much can you read? What has happened, is that as I rummage around, looking up interesting facts and tidbits of information, I sometimes (most of the time do not) provide an e-mail address so that I can continue to get information sent to me as it is made available. This was well and good for the one or two sites I had been found interesting, but at some point, somehow, my e-mail address got on some body's mailing list and was sold. I am sure this has happened to all of you at some point or another. Granted, on these mass mailings, since there are laws against spam, you are SUPPOSED to be able to click on the "unsubscribe" portion of the e-mail and your address would be removed from the list. HA, that happens about half of the time. I have gotten to the point where once I unsubscribe, I keep a copy of that notification and if I continue to receive messages from that particular site, I submit all the requests for being removed and I do finally get my address off the list.

The other problem I have is that there are a few sites where I want the information sent regularly. Sometimes the information they send is relevant, other times it is not relevant. This is OK, but lately these sites have been sending out messages more than a few times a week. I am now getting buried in offers to read the latest and greatest document on how to improve your website, how to improve your social media presence, how to improve your life, etc. My in-box is starting to look like my regular mailbox with all those extra flyers you really didn't want to know about.

My issue is that mixed in that mountain of reading, there are pearls of wisdom. I hate just deleting messages without a cursory reading of them. Since I am getting more of these messages daily, I am being forced to decide which ones to read and which ones I really don't need to open. The subject lines are almost always eye-catching. They want you to read their message, in the hopes that they can capture your business. I have fallen into the trap of reading these because I keep looking for those pearls that I used to be able to find fairly easily. How many times have you downloaded a file that was offered, for free, only to discover that after you downloaded the file, you never went back to read it? Heck, I even subscribe to an on-line quarterly magazine and have discovered I don't have time to read that either. Yet I keep filing all those pieces of information on my hard drive with the expectation that at some point, some day, I will find the time to read all this stuff.

Now you understand my question, how much can you read? It really should be, how much can you read before your head explodes? I love reading, I am a fast reader, but the pile of electronic reading I have yet to read boggles the mind. I will open the documents, and scan them for relevance, so at least I have reviewed what has been stored. But, with running the business, running appointments, doing rallies, just living life, I flat out don't have the time to read all of the cool e-books and files that I have stored on my computer. The bigger problem is that since I have visually scanned the information, I believe that there are pieces of information that would be relevant for me, I just have to carve out more time out of my already busy day to get this reading done. I had been dedicating reading 30 minutes a day to try to keep up, but at this point, 30 minutes is just not enough time.

Do any of you have the same problem? Or did you have that problem and then come up with a solution? I would love to hear some solutions (other than the obvious, delete the files...). Anyway, is this something that you think is common, or am I just making a "mountain out of a mole hill"? I would love to hear from you on this.

If you are curious about the business that I am running, please feel free to visit our website at http://www.hawgwash.net/. We offer several business opportunities for people looking to earn a second income. We also sell products directly to the public, so you do not have to get involved in any opportunity if you do not wish to. If you live near the Phoenix, Arizona area, we also have a mobile detailing business where we come to your location (either work or home) and detail your vehicle without water. Information on that and reservations can be found at http://www.hawgwash.biz/. So you can see that I am just a tiny bit busy, and do not have large amounts of time to sit in front of the computer reading e-books..

Friday, July 23, 2010

Alright, everybody has been complaining about the heat around the country. Granted, it has been warm, but really How hot is it? Depending on what part of the country you live in, hot is a relative term.

Hot back east may be in the low 90's, but once you factor in humidity over 50%, then the heat index goes up and you are very uncomfortable. I don't know about you, but "heat indexes" mean nothing to me. I visualize a library with a bank of index cards (yeah, I know, I am dating myself again) and there are cards that are all about heat indices...

On the west coast, hot means anything between 85 and 90, with relatively low humidity. I don't think Californians really understand the concept of heat. Now here in Arizona, well we know all about HEAT.

It is so hot here, that after going in the pool, you get in the Jacuzzi to cool off.

It is so hot that you turn on the cold water tap and get scalding hot water. The cooler water comes from your hot water heater.

It is so hot in Arizona that you don't need a bidet, all you need to do is sit on the toilet and flush, and you get your own personal steam bath.

We wanted to go on a motorcycle ride the other day, when we turned on the GPS to get directions, it stated, "Are you KIDDING?"

It was so hot today, I saw two trees fighting over the dog...

It was so hot here that birds had to use potholders to get the worms out of the ground.

It was so hot that the cows here in Arizona are now giving evaporated milk...

When it gets this hot in Arizona, people at the malls don't fight for the closest parking space, they fight for the space with the shade...

Lastly, when you get in your car in Arizona, you learn very quickly that your seat belt buckle makes a very effective branding iron.

Hopefully some of those made you chuckle.

If you are looking for some means of earning a second income, please browse our website, http://www.hawgwash.net/. We may have something that will tickle your fancy, or if we don't have quite what you want we may be able to point you in the right direction. If you want some products to clean your vehicles without water, or are looking for better nutrition, http://www.hawgwash.net/ is also the place to go. Either way, feel free to contact us at hawgwash1@yahoo.com .

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Tonight we are going to lighten up, we survived "Hump Day" and some of us are now looking forward to the weekend. As you may know, we have two Yorkies (actually one Yorkie and one pseudo-Yorkie) that are with us the majority of the time. Since we are currently in Arizona, it is extremely hot and as a result, we spend time in the pool. The problem with Arizona and pools this time of year though is that because it is so hot and the sun shines most of the time, the water in the pools get hot. Our pool water temperature is in the upper 80's, so it is like swimming in a bathtub.

When we first got Hawg, we wanted to be sure he was safe around the pool so we put him in it. To our surprise, that little guy sank like a rock. He had no idea how to swim. I didn't think that was normal for a dog, but we are talking Yorkie here... Anyway, the first summer we had Hawg, we made an effort to teach him to swim. I didn't want him falling in the pool and immediately sinking to the bottom. Now teaching a dog how to swim is an interesting situation, but it is possible.

What has happened though, is that our Yorkie has turned into a water dog. We can't go into the pool without him begging to go in also. We used to leave him and Gypsy in the house when we went swimming so that we didn't have to worry about them. Now, however, we can't even grab a towel for the pool before Hawg starts causing a ruckus because he wants to come out and play in the pool too. One day last year I had been surprised by Hawg. When I was consulting with the pool guy, Hawg had been running around the pool just for fun. Then, he stopped at the steps and literally leaped into the pool. All four of his feet were splayed out and he did a belly flop into the pool. Both the pool guy and I just stared at his antics. After he hit the water, he turned around, swam back to the step, got out, shook and then started running around again. I couldn't stop laughing.

After that episode, I started bringing my kick board out to the pool. The minute I got in the pool with the kick board, Hawg had to jump in and get on the kick board. He just loves getting on the board and being pushed around the pool. It is really funny to watch. Now, if I want to go in the pool, I must take the kick board out and let Hawg jump on so he too can play in the pool

Today in my rush to swim, I did not put the kick board in the pool. Hawg took a giant leap again into the pool and started paddling like mad. I grabbed the board, he climbed on and he got pushed around the pool for about 5 minutes. After he got out and dried off for a bit, the little bugger did another header into the pool. This time, he went underwater. The pictures today are after he went totally under water. As you can see, he is still not upset about being so wet, he just wanted to jump into the water some more. I think I have a water dog disguised as a Yorkie.

Going forward, I am really going to have to keep an eye on him so that he doesn't jump in when I am not around. At least he knows where the steps are, he always jumps in over the steps, then turns around and swims to the steps (assuming I am not already in the pool). So, for those of you who didn't think Yorkies can swim, Yorkies do swim. On a side note, Gypsy can swim, but doesn't like to get her feet wet. She is not a water dog...

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Stem Cells. That has been a popular subject in the news lately. You have heard about Stem Cell Research, you have most likely heard the pros and cons about Embryonic Stem Cell research. Stem Cells have become the new hot topic that will polarize people. The question really is, who needs stem cells, and why?

We all have stem cells in our bodies. What created our bodies are stem cells, specifically embryonic stem cells. Stem cells are actually "master" cells that have the ability to become almost any type of cell in the body. Stem cells are found in most multi-cellular organisms. These cells are crucial for growth of any organism because the stem cells have the ability to renew and replace damaged cells in the body. In mammals, there are two types of stem cells, embryonic and adult.

Embryonic stem cells have the unique ability to develop into any kind of cell in the body, whether a heart cell, brain cell or a liver cell. In embryonic stem cell therapy, doctors extract embryonic stem cells from an 8-10 day old embryo and then inject those cells elsewhere in order to recreate specific cells. This process destroys the embryo. Currently there is a lot of controversy regarding the harvesting and use of embryonic stem cells. We are not going to debate that medical research in this forum.

The other type of stem cells that are in the body are adult stem cells. Once we are born, we all carry adult stem cells. These cells are mainly produced and stored in the bone marrow of your body. Recent research has found that these adult stem cells are at the core of your body's natural renewal system. Adult stem cell treatment have been used successfully for many years and have been known to be used in veterinary medicine to treat tendon and arthritis problems in dogs and horses. The use of adult stem cells in research and therapy is not as controversial as embryonic stem cells because the production of adult stem cells does not require the destruction of an embryo. There have been successful veterinary cases where doctors have extracted adult stem cells from the dog's fat cells and then re-injected it into areas that need repair. Because they are using your own adult stem cells, the risk of rejection from the procedure is very low.

The product, StemEnhance, is the world's first natural Stem Cell Enhancer. It is the only nutritional supplement in the world that is proven to support the natural release of your own adult stem cells. By releasing approximately 25% more of your own adult stem cells into your system, you are allowing your body to repair and renew itself naturally. As we age the quantity of stem cells circulating in our system decreases while all our other cells tend to deteriorate. The older we get, the more we need to have our own adult stem cells circulating in our system to keep our body at optimal performance. The great thing about StemEnhance is that it is an all natural product and does nothing more than allow your body to release more of it's own adult stem cells. Then your own adult stem cells will circulate through your body repairing and renewing areas that are in need.

In summary, we all have stem cells. The key is how well our bodies use the adult stem cells that are already in existence. By using StemEnhance regularly, you would be increasing the amount of circulating adult stem cells by approximately 25%, which would then allow your body to renew and regenerate some other old, damaged cells. By having this occur naturally in your body, you will begin to experience optimal health. Increasing the number of circulating adult stem cells is one of the most important things that you can do in order to maintain your optimal health.

If you have questions regarding StemEnhance, the following video may be helpful. If you would like to ask more specific questions, please feel free to e-mail me, otherwise, if you are interested in ordering StemEnhance, you can order directly from my website, or again contact me through e-mail.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Tonight's topic is partly for you guys, but mainly for me. Tonight I have been struggling with motivation....a LOT... I have been busy getting all kinds of tasks, projects and business completed, but there are days where I completely lose motivation to do anything. It is days, or evenings, like that that cause me to ask the question, how do you stay motivated?

This topic was touched upon in a prior blog, but after re-reading that blog, I found there there was a lot missing. Actually, there are tons of books on motivation, so how do I think a brief blog on motivation will cover all aspects? Silly me... But, since I have been lacking in motivation this evening, it is a good time to re-visit the topic. I suspect that everyone wrestles with motivation, or lack thereof, at some point in their life. There are motivation seminars, there are also books and audio all covering motivation. I am by no means an expert on motivation, but I will freely admit that I struggle with motivation. Motivation, or lack of motivation can be the bane of the home-based business entrepreneur. If you want to grow your business, you have to remain motivated the majority of the time. But, due to human nature, motivation will come and go. The key is to harness that energy when you have it and use it to the best of your ability.

In order to remain motivated, one trick you can do is to determine the time of day when you feel you are the most productive. Some people tend to get a lot of work done in a short period of time first thing in the morning. There are also those who do their best work late at night. You know what time of the day you are most productive. Choose to do some of your more challenging tasks during that time of day. That way, when you are most motivated, you will have fewer challenges, distractions (or excuses) when completing those tasks. After that, when your energy level starts waning, you will be more motivated to get the easier tasks done because you are relieved at having finished a big, challenging task. Haven't you noticed that once you finish a task you have been dreading, you have more energy? Same concept. Get the hard stuff done when you are feeling your strongest. Then when you are on the "high" at having a big task completed you will be more motivated to complete other tasks.

Another item to help retain motivation is to learn to say "NO". It is critical to learn how to say 'no' to distractions or to small tasks that crop up during the day. I am not suggesting that you don't do those tasks, but learn to put the unimportant tasks off until you complete the bigger task that you are currently working on. By saying 'no' to distractions, you are beginning the prioritization process. You will find that those distractions will then either go away because they resolved themselves, or once you finish the project at hand, the smaller task is much easier to deal with. It is also a major kick to be able to put a small task on your 'To Do' list and then cross it off later in the day.

"To Do" lists can also be a great motivator, as long as you don't make the list impossibly long. When you create your list, be sure that you have identified things that can be completed in a reasonable day. If you make your list pages long, that can become a major demotivator. If you have a lot of tasks that must get completed, write your "To Do" list in a manner that some projects are completed in one day, and then assign other, less urgent, tasks to another day. By spreading all the things that must be done over days, it makes all that you have to do much more manageable and again, you get a great motivational boost when you can cross tasks off your list. Be sure when you create you list that you do not carry "To Do's" from one day to the next. If you do that, you will again have the problem of too many things to do in too short a period of time. If you cannot finish a particular task in one day, look to see when you can complete it, assign it to that day, then move other tasks appropriately. Do not assume that you can complete 28 hours worth of work in a 24 hour day. It is not possible, or if it is possible, it is not reasonable to expect. Doing that on more than an exception basis is also extremely demotivating.

Lastly (for tonight), when you are feeling a distinct lack of motivation, go out and get some exercise. Exercising outside may not be possible all the time, but be sure to find some physical outlet that can allow you to take a mental and physical break. You can do a brisk walk outside, or do some push ups or jumping jacks inside. Exercising will help you to de-clutter your physical body and release endorphins into your blood stream. Endorphins are what make you feel good, and by releasing them, you are allowing your body to relax a little bit. You may even find that if you were facing a challenging problem prior to exercising, when you are done, you may have found a simple solution to the challenge. Exercising is great not just for clearing your physical body, but can help to clear your mind of unintended obstacles.

Hopefully these ideas on how to stay motivated were helpful and heck, ....even motivating...

If you find that you are stressed out because of financial concerns, you may want to explore second income opportunities. We specialize in second income coaching and consultation and have a wide array of business opportunities that you can review. One of these opportunities may be just the thing you were looking for and may be what keeps you motivated. You can also just e-mail us with any questions or concerns you may have, we would love to help you.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Well, here it is, Monday, already and it is time for our weekly installment of FUN FACTS. Since Mondays are so tough, I thought it would be nice to start a tradition of having fun on Monday evenings...basically, I am on the hunt for fun facts, something that will make you smile and forget about how rough your Monday may have been. So, let's get to it:

In the 1500's bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and the guests got the top, or the upper crust. So, three guesses where the phrase "upper crust" came from....

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey (I could use some of that tonight...). The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for several days. If the partiers passed out along the road, someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. These partiers were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait to see if they would wake up. Hence, the custom of holding a wake... (ewww....)

Because England had been populated for so long and is a small land mass, the local folks started running out of places to bury people so they would dig up coffins. What they discovered though was that 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside. It was then they realized that they had been burying people alive. To prevent that from happening going forward, they would tie a string to the wrist of the "corpse", lead the string through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. (this one really creeps me out...) Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell. Thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer".

I probably should have saved these little factoids for Halloween, but when I found them, I wanted to share... Makes you very happy to be here in the 21st century, doesn't it....

Next Monday, we will move past the 1500's, so you don't think I am stuck in one century... Hopefully you enjoyed this short interlude.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Who wants to be a Millionaire? I know there are a lot of people out there who would love to become a millionaire. I would like to count myself as one of those people too. The tough question is how much do you want to be a millionaire? Are you one of those who sits on a chair or couch watching the TV show "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" and wish you were one of those contestants? Did you do anything to even try to be on that game show? Has anyone looked at the chances contestants have to get on the show, let alone win a million dollars?

In actuality there are a lot more millionaires among us than you would think. Many people believe that millionaires were either born into the money or just plain lucky. In actuality, that is not the case. Millionaires are made more than they are born into money. A lot of how a millionaire is made is in how they think, versus how the middle-class people think. Millionaires think in the long-term. They are looking 5 and 10 and 15 years into the future. Middle class people tend to worry more about what is going to happen tomorrow or next month. Short-term thinking will not allow you to take some necessary risks.

Millionaires are willing to take risks. They may lose everything several times, but they never quit. The middle class will play it safe with their money rather than commit to losing anything today. Every success story came with some risk involved. The key is to make calculated decisions and take calculated risks. Do not enter into opportunities randomly, you need to research and do your homework. You need to continually learn and grow in your knowledge. If you stop learning, you will become stagnated and you will not learn any additional techniques or opportunities that my turn you into the next millionaire.

The only way you are going to head on the road to becoming a millionaire is to begin to take calculated risks. Life is about risks. Opportunities are always risky, the key is to be sure you understand the opportunity before you get involved with it. I am not suggesting you jump into any opportunity that comes your way. You need to become educated on that opportunity, otherwise you are really doing nothing more than throwing money at a chance, just like at a slot machine. There is risk putting money into the slot machines, yet people do it every day, with loads of money. If they are willing to take that kind of risk, why wouldn't they want to do a little research and put their money on a better return on that risk? That question has always hounded me. Why put money into a machine that you really know nothing about except the odds of you winning back some money? Why not put that same money into something that has a higher chance of returning more money to you? Perhaps it is because people are lazy, and don't want to research. Me, I don't like gambling, not for ethical reasons, but because I see the return on investment to be minuscule. I would rather take my chances with a business opportunity that may fail, but then again, it may be a great opportunity.

I would never know if the opportunity is good if I didn't look into it and research. The Internet is a great venue to research almost anything. If you get into an opportunity and get burned because you didn't do you homework, shame on you. Taking risks does not mean just taking a shot in the dark, but rather taking a calculated chance that you will succeed. People put money in certain slot machines because they may have seen someone winning consistently with that particular machine. At least those people did a little homework on the machines.

The key here is to overcome your fear of taking risks by obtaining knowledge about the opportunity you are looking into. While you are exploring possibilities, be sure you know what the worst thing that can happen would be. If you are willing to accept the worst possible outcome, (and you can anticipate the best or a reasonable outcome), then this may be an opportunity that will work for you. You never know if you don't try. Just be sure you are comfortable with the knowledge that you may fall flat on your face. I bet you didn't get on a bicycle and ride it successfully the first time around. Just like in business, it takes practice.

So, keep researching, ask questions, test the waters, but once you have the knowledge, don't be afraid to take risks. Then others will ask you how you became a millionaire.

If you are looking for a second income opportunity, we may have something that would interest you. We offer opportunities in legal, nutritional and waterless technology products. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail us at hawgwash1@yahoo.com. We would love to hear from you and answer any questions you may have.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Today we are going to briefly cover another type of business opportunity offered by Hawgwash, LLC. Along with the STEMTech Stem Cell nutritional line we also offer a Pre-Paid Legal business opportunity. As we have discussed in prior posts, our original core business was in Waterless Wash Technology. We did not initially look for other business opportunities immediately, but as our waterless wash business grew, we knew that we needed occasional legal advice. At one of the rallies we attended, we met some people promoting Pre-Paid Legal and the business opportunity associated with it.

Since we were looking for legal advice on some business issues, we started talking to these people about what Pre-Paid Legal had to offer small businesses and how it could help us. What Pre-Paid Legal offers, is low-cost legal assistance to members. Pre-Paid Legal provides professional legal counsel for everyday events such as purchasing a car or house, creating a will, handling problems with insurance companies, and dealing with identity theft, to name a few. There are a wide number of issues that can easily be handled by the Pre-Paid Legal plan, and for those legal issues that require more in-depth work, they offer significantly discounted legal services. For our needs, access to legal advice was only a phone call away.

We really liked the concept of having access to legal advice with a phone call. How many times have you wanted to ask a legal question, but was faced with a lawyer looking for some type of payment even before the question could be asked? Pre-Paid Legal allows you to have access to attorneys for a low monthly fee (as low as $26/month) along with the comfort knowing that you can ask legal questions before committing to any particular plan of action. Even better, is that with an annual plan, Pre-Paid Legal allows for preventative legal services (will creation, unlimited phone consultations, contract and document review, etc) , motor vehicle legal expense services, trial defense services (hopefully you will NEVER need these services), IRS Audit Legal services, along with some other legal services. This is awesome on a personal level, but we also needed some legal protection for our home based business.

We discovered that Pre-Paid legal also offers home based business riders along with other plans for larger businesses. All of these options are slightly different based on what state you personally reside in, but if you want to know, the information for what is and what is not covered is easily and readily accessible. This series of legal services was exactly what we at Hawgwash, LLC was looking for. As we talked about what Pre-Paid Legal had to offer, we realized that this is a service that would be very beneficial to others as well, so we not only signed up for Pre-Paid Legal services for our personal and business needs, but we began the process of being able to promote the Pre-Paid Legal Business Opportunity.

The business opportunity for Pre-Paid Legal is quite lucrative. We discovered that 71% of U.S. Households have experienced some event within the last year where they would have been better off with some type of legal representation. How many people do you know that have had a legal issue within the last year or so? It is quite a large number, and the costs to obtain legal representation when you are in need is quite high. By pre-paying for legal services (that you can use almost any time) the people you know are in a much better position to make better decisions that would not require further legal representation. It is wonderful to be able to ask a question of an attorney before the issue becomes a legal nightmare. So, many people could easily use this type of affordable legal service.

This is a product that can have immediate benefits to all involved, and is relatively easy to explain to people. Pre-Paid Legal has been around for 30 years, so they are not a fly-by-night type of outfit. Commissions can be paid out daily and you receive commissions on every sale that you make. This is a great way to create leveraged income even while working at your "regular" job. Once you get a strong team working with you, you can explode your earning potential. With the right team, the sky is the limit with Pre-Paid Legal services.

This business opportunity does not appeal to everybody, which is why we have included it on our Hawgwash, LLC website. As we have discussed before, all business opportunities do not appeal to everyone. Personally, this is an awesome business opportunity, and in today's economic climate, the timing is perfect. If you would like more information on what Pre-Paid Legal may be able to do for you, you are more than welcome to e-mail me at hawgwash1@yahoo.com. You can watch the opportunity movie or you can review our Pre-Paid legal website at your convenience.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

We are currently reviewing business opportunities with Hawgwash, LLC. Last night we reviewed a business opportunity through the STEMTech products (stem cell nutritional products). After re-reading the information that was provided to you last night, I wondered, where was the business opportunity in that conversation. Apparently, I have been woefully lacking in talking about the business opportunities. I have been providing all kinds of information regarding the products by STEMTech, mainly because they are awesome products, but I completely missed the boat regarding talking about the amazing business opportunity that can be found with STEMTech. Shame on me. I will rectify that oversight tonight and then move onto some other business opportunities that are offered through Hawgwash, LLC too.

As great as the STEMTech products are, if you are in a financial bind, even the best products for your health will seem to be unattainable. Fortunately for us, STEMTech has a great business opportunity built behind the awesome products they offer. If you are unsure what you may be able to do with STEMTech and don't want to do a lot of reading up front, they have created a simple to understand video summarizing the business opportunity. The difference with this product is that you can now offer the first stem cell enhancer to people to help them to improve their own health and wellness. If you are not healthy, how can you enjoy any additional income you may earn. Since this is the first product of it's kind to the market, you end up being in the right place at the right time. You have all probably heard something regarding stem cell research, and the STEMTech products utilize not embryonic stem cells, but your body's own natural adult stem cells.

Because of this increased media coverage, you get almost automatic advertising. All you have to do is mention that you have a stem cell nutritional, and most people have already heard something and are willing to hear more. Once you have their interest, all you have to do is to provide them with a little more information and your business is on its way to success.

I will not go into detail with the compensation plan for STEMTech, except to say that it is an excellent plan. This blog is not the forum to go into nitty-gritty details of any compensation plan, but if you are interested in obtaining more information on the STEMTech business opportunity, please feel free to either call me (the phone number was on the bottom of the attached video) or e-mail me at hawgwash1@yahoo.com with your questions. I look forward to hearing from you.

Tomorrow we will cover the other business opportunities that are offered through Hawgwash, LLC in the event that the stem cell nutritional products and that opportunity do not rock your boat.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Yesterday I talked a little about the multiple business opportunities we at Hawgwash, LLC have to offer. We have added business opportunities that, in our belief, cover a wide range of interests. Our goal is to provide the customer with as many options for building a second income as possible. Not every opportunity either appeals to everyone, nor is every opportunity going to work for every person. Tonight we are going to cover the STEMTech business opportunity.

We chose various business opportunities that would complement what we do at Hawgwash, LLC. The first business opportunity we are going to review tonight is our newest addition, STEMTech International. STEMTech is the newest business opportunity we have added to our nutritional line and personally, I think it is one of the most innovative and cutting-edge opportunities on the market to date. We were first introduced to STEMTech International in early December 2009. The compensation plan looked great, the website was awesome, but the most important thing we needed to know was if the product was something we could personally and professionally stand behind.

In order to discover that, we researched the concepts of Stem Cell Nutrition and ordered products for us to personally try. As we waited for our order to arrive, we continued to research both the company and the concept of stem cell nutritionals. By the time our product and the distributor kit arrived, we were well informed about who STEMTech was and what they stood for. I had a very difficult time locating any negative information on STEMTech (which is excellent for any market) and found relatively little competition in the niche market they were going after.

The distributor materials were excellent. They materials were easy to read and understand. The compensation plan was not as complicated as many that we had seen before. What I really liked about STEMTech though was the concept of the stem cell nutrition. Many other nutritional companies make claims about health achieved, but STEMTech actually had medical journals documenting their statements. The more we learned about the company and the product, the more excited we became. This is a new nutritional supplement, it is cutting-edge technology, but the best thing is that the statements are backed up with proven scientific studies. If you looked to other nutritional companies, you would be hard pressed to locate the same quality of research that has gone into the StemEnhance product.

So, technically on paper, the company looked excellent and the products looked very solid. The next hurdle that had to be covered was, did the products work for US? Well, for those of you who may have been watching our website over the years, you may have noticed that we did not include any STEMTech links or information on our website until the end of January. That was because we became the human guinea pigs for the STEMTech products. We wanted to be able to say that we have personally used and can personally vouch for the products.

We do not believe in promoting anything that we can not personally stand behind. Ethically, we cannot (actually do not wish to) promote a product that we personally don't believe works well. We will also not promote a business opportunity that we feel will not benefit our customers for one reason or another. So, at times you may see us promoting different products on our website, but rarely will you see us promoting new opportunities unless we are VERY sure that the particular opportunity is viable and ethical.

So, after a month and a half of personally using the StemEnhance and StemFLO products, we felt confident that our customers would experience similar improvements in their overall health and well being. I know that by the end of January, I personally saw significant improvements in how my body was behaving and as the months have gone by, I have experienced better and better overall health. I have been able significantly reduce the number of over the counter medications for some personal afflictions, and am happy to say that I have completely eliminated other medications entirely from my life. I am thrilled with the physical improvements I have experienced and feel that my quality of life is better than it has been in many, many years.

After experimenting successfully with the StemEnhance and StemFLO products, I then decided to put our dogs on the StemPETS product. As you may have read in previous blogs, StemPETS has done wonders for our dogs also. We are continuing to monitor the response of our dogs to the extended use of StemPETS, but to date, all we have seen are improvements.

So, in terms of product and business opportunity, we can wholeheartedly endorse the STEMTech products for others, if they are interested in promoting a nutritional business opportunity or are interested in improving personal health. Tomorrow we will review one of our other business opportunities.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

It was just recently I heard a friend refer to someone else as a grasshopper. I had never heard that description before, it made sense, but I had never heard it phrased this way before. We had been talking about other marketers and we had a mutual friend who seemed to always be moving from one opportunity to another, and not sticking with any one opportunity for any significant length of time. Calling them a grasshopper was very descriptive and very accurate.

Then I got to thinking, grasshopper, who's a grasshopper? Do people think I am a grasshopper too? Perception is everything in the marketing world, so after our evening chatter, by the time I got home, I really started thinking, am I a grasshopper too? All of a sudden that reference didn't seem as harmless. It made me take a step back and really reassess what I am doing and where I want our business to go.

All businesses have to change. Change is required, if you don't change, you most likely will not be in business for very long. The difference is that the changes you make in business have to be relevant to where you are and where you need to go. Change for changes sake is not going to help anyone. So, if change is necessary in order to grow your business, the tough part is to figure out how to implement those changes and not be labeled a grasshopper... Interesting problem. It is an angle I hadn't considered before.

I then took a look at how Hawgwash, LLC has changed over the last two years wondering if we looked like grasshoppers too to the outside world. Gratefully, I don't believe we fit that bill. The other aspect of a grasshopper is someone who would work on one opportunity, drop it and move onto the next, better-looking opportunity. They do this on a regular basis. They look more like opportunists rather than business people. Hawgwash, LLC has not dropped one opportunity for another, but rather, we have expanded our business opportunities to meet a wider range of interests. We have not lost sight of our original business opportunity, waterless wash technology. We also recognize the fact that not everyone is interested in waterless technology, heck there are many people who don't want to bother cleaning their car, with or without water.

So that we didn't turn into a "scotch tape store" we began to expand into other income opportunities that suited us personally, but would also suit our customer base. The other income opportunities we offer are not just opportunities that looked good on paper. The are opportunities that we personally use and believe in. So, unlike some who may change their business model based on the profitability of the month, we are in it for the long haul with our selection of income opportunities. We work all of the opportunities, and don't plan on abandoning them for a newer fad.

Tomorrow we will review the various income opportunities that Hawgwash, LLC has to offer and discuss why we added them to our master business plan.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Since is it Monday, and it has been a rough Monday for many people I talked to, I figured that it was a good day to present some fun historical facts. Something light hearted, something to make you all smile. Monday's are tough, there is no need to frown about it, let's have some fun...

Do you remember reading about houses with thatched roofs? Thatched roofs had thick straw piled high with no wood underneath. It was the only place that animals could get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs, you get the drift...) lived in the roof. When it rained, the thatched roof became slippery and sometimes the animals that were camped in the roof would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs." There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.

This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed (but, if you read last weeks post on fun facts, if you don't bathe often, how clean can your bed really be...really???). Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

Also in those thatched roof houses, the floor was dirt, not concrete or carpet... Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying, "Dirt Poor." The wealthy had slate and slate floors would get slippery in the winter when wet, so the people spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when the door opened, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence, a thresh hold.... (are we having fun learning yet???)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day, they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. That is where the rhyme: "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old" came from. Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.

Because pork was so special, when visitors came over, the homeowners would hang up their bacon to show it off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and they would all sit around and "chew the fat." (ewwweeee) Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach into the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous (an my mother wouldn't believe ME!!! I knew tomatoes weren't good...)

Hopefully these fun historical facts made you smile. I know these facts really made me appreciate the times we are living in now. It gives you a better perspective on life. Hopefully you will have a good rest of the week.

If you are looking for additional income streams, please feel free to visit http://www.hawgwash.net/ for some second income ideas. We may have something that will tickle your fancy and help you to make ends meet.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Well, today was the day...I got to experience more adventures in dog grooming today. I put it off for as long as possible, but had to groom the dogs today...they were pretty darned shaggy and with this heat, were very uncomfortable when going outside. The good part about having the dogs shaggy was they did not fight me for going back into the house. Usually once they are outside, it takes major coaxing to get them to come back inside. Prior to grooming, they came in as soon as they completed their business.

I hadn't even bathed our little Yorkie, Hawg, since his surgery for kidney stones, which was over 3 weeks ago. I did a light rinsing, but since the vet said not to get him too wet, he really didn't get a good bath. All I had done prior to this was to take a damp wash cloth and wipe his belly down a bit... Needless to say, he in particular was getting more than a little stinky... Since I didn't wash Hawg, I didn't wash Gypsy either. She puts up with a whole lot more fussing, but since I wasn't washing one dog, I didn't want to wash the other...mainly because if I wash Gypsy, then Hawg (even though he is hydrophobic...) wants to get in on the deal. Usually that means he falls into the tub while I am washing the other dog...

This time, since the dogs were so shaggy, and I really didn't want to spend 5 hours grooming them, I tried a different dog grooming method, I clipped them first and then washed them. I know you are SUPPOSED to wash them first, but after grooming, there is so much loose hair that gets EVERYWHERE, I end up wanting to wash them after the grooming too. Washing may not sound like that big a deal when you are talking about dogs under 15 pounds, and it really isn't. What takes so long is waiting for them to completely dry before you start clipping them.

Neither dog likes the blow dryer, so I have to wait for them to air dry. Since we are now in double-digit humidity (it is all the way up to 25% today....) I figured it was going to take longer than usual for those little monsters to dry. Also factored into that was how much hair they had. I figured that if I washed them first, it would take at least an hour for them to be dry enough to clip. So....clipping first...

Actually, because the dogs had so much excess hair (the hair really seemed to grow a whole lot faster this time, probably due to the StemPET nutritional they have been consuming) it made more sense to cut all the big stuff off before washing. I was also hoping that since they get really wired after a bath, perhaps I would have an easier time grooming the dogs prior to their bath...

All this was wishful dreaming. The clipping did work OK even on dirty hair, but the dogs fidgeted as much as usual, Hawg was particularly twitchy today...possibly because it was so warm or possibly because he was reminded of his surgery...don't know, he doesn't verbalize too well...you know how that goes. So, I chose to clip Hawg first because he is so twitchy. That was a good idea, unfortunately, the lack of bath did not make my dog grooming any easier for him. I got his body, head and face nicely trimmed up, but could make only a minimal dent in trimming all that excess hair on his legs... Overall though, he was OK to groom, right now he just looks like a mini Clydesdale horse, nice and trim in the body, and these bell-bottom feet... looks kinda cute, but embarrassing if any other dog groomer takes a look at him. Perhaps I can convince people that I am working on a new style of cut....yeah, right, like anyone who knows anything about grooming will believe that....

Gypsy was a dream (as usual) to groom. She just stands there, looking sad, but tolerating all the clipping and shaving and cutting that is done. I think she rather likes the attention, but doesn't want to make it too easy for me. After I get the majority of her groomed, she then starts fidgeting and slowly trying to ease her way off the table... All I have to do is to pick her up and place her firmly back on the table, and she stays put for another few minutes...She looked good after her grooming. I was worried about how she was going to turn out because somehow, in the last week and a half, she managed to get her muzzle hair so matted I had no choice but to cut the majority of it off. Now she has sort of a poodle look about the face, but the good news is that she does not get that beard dunked in water when she takes a drink. I trimmed the rest of her face to match the shorter muzzle cut and after her bathing, did find a section that I will have to re-trim because it is longer than the rest. That additional trimming should only take me another 10 minutes to get cleaned up.

A dis-advantage to bathing the dogs after the clipping is that I can now find all the long hairs that did not appear when the dogs were dirty. Now I will have to re-trim the dogs in the next day or so in order for them to not look too much like a hack job. They really don't look that bad, but again, if you know what a good groomed dog looks like, you will see that they are not as neat as they should be...also...I am a bit of a perfectionist... I like a really neat look, and hate to see even a few hairs that are not the same length...

So, I did have more adventures in dog grooming today, I think going forward I will wash the dogs After the main grooming because I REALLY like the fact that the dogs are not tracking loose hair all over the place. How many times after you have had a hair cut do you want to go home and wash your hair? I know I can't wait, because I hate all that loose hair and I feel particularly itchy. The dogs don't seem to be as itchy today either, so perhaps my theory is accurate.. You never know...

One of these days though, I will get good enough with dog grooming to be able to groom these two wiggly monsters in one sitting instead of knowing I have two sittings to deal with. Practice makes perfect. Even better, I am going to find some natural way to get Hawg to settle down so he doesn't stress so bad when I trim his feet and legs. I do know it's not me or my grooming style, the groomer I used to take him to told me he is a major pain about his feet. She puts his head in what looks like a half a hamster ball (a round version of the cone) so he doesn't nip any clippers and then she trims his feet and legs. She also grooms Hawg in segments because he gets so riled up when he gets groomed. So the key is to find some version of a natural "doggie downer" (phrase taken from an old Saturday Night Live show ["puppy uppers and doggie downers"]...) so Hawg doesn't get so anxious about his legs being groomed... If I am successful, I will let you guys know...

Saturday, July 10, 2010

As you guys may know, I ride motorcycles...no, really... Well, about a year and a half ago, we acquired a 2002 Harley Davidson Electra Glide Standard (FLHT) that has been converted to an Ultra Classic. The ultimate goal was for me to retire my Springer and ride the FLHT. I rode that "bagger" on the 2009 Run for the Wall (RFTW) and had ridden that bike for months prior and after RFTW. After spending a whole year trying to make the bike comfortable for me, we have decided that there is no way that bike and I are going to learn to play well together. Because of that we have put the 2002 Harley Davidson Electra Glide motorcycle for sale.

This bike has been lowered front and rear (which I need for my little legs) and I purchased a Badlander saddle from Harley because it allowed me an additional half inch lower to the ground. After discovering how HARD that Badlander seat was, I had a gel insert added which made it a much nicer saddle. Despite all that we have done to make this bike comfortable for me, I am still not able to completely flat-foot when at a stop and am therefore not entirely comfortable on the bike. I rode the Springer this year on RFTW and discovered how much more comfortable I was on the soft tail rather than the bagger. So, now that we are back home, I have put the FLHT motorcycle up for sale.

In a nutshell, the bagger frame is too wide for my body. No matter how low we get the saddle to the ground, it feels like my legs go out sideways before they head down to the ground. I am uncomfortable maneuvering the bike because I can not comfortably put my feet on the ground. My riding reflects my discomfort on the bike. I have had too many close calls for tipping over on this bike and just don't want to worry about tipping over.

It is a good bike, runs great, I just can't handle the bagger. I guess I am just a soft tail kind of person (no comments from the peanut gallery).

If you know anybody who is looking for a Harley Davidson touring bike, we have a great one for sale. It has the following really cool things on it:

If you know anybody interested in this great motorcycle for sale, please feel free to have them contact me at hawgwash1@yahoo.com. We will entertain any serious offer, but since we have more than enough vehicles, we are not interested in trading for another vehicle (car, truck, ATV, trailer, etc).

Thanks so much for listening to my rant about this great bike. I really liked the bike, I just wish I had longer legs... I loved the radio, don't have that or the fairing on the Springer. It is a nice riding bike, I would really enjoy it if I didn't have to worry about that nasty little thing...stopping... If this bagger handled like my Springer, we would not be having this conversation...

Friday, July 9, 2010

There has been so much press lately regarding the 4th verse of "The Star-Spangled Banner" that I was driven to look up the lyrics for myself. I am sure that you have seen and heard the video where a Marine sings the 4th verse, so I became very curious about the entire National Anthem. My first concern was that all I ever learned of our National Anthem was essentially the first verse. If I had been taught the other verses, I have absolutely no recollection. So tonight I thought we could all use a little education on our Nation's Anthem.

I started wondering if this was some form of media hype, with everyone focusing on the 4th verse of our National Anthem, kind of like the pendulum swinging the other direction... so, I felt that it was my duty to look up all the verses of the National Anthem and basically do a little history homework on our National Anthem. Actually what I found out, we should have learned in school, but frankly, I can't remember if I learned that. I do remember learning that Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics as he witnessed the battle between the U.S. and the British Royal Navy at Fort McHenry in the Chesapeake Bay. I do remember that Key was essentially a prisoner on the British ship HMS Surprise when he witnessed the attack on Fort McHenry. After he witnessed the American victory, he was inspired to write the poem the next morning on the back of a letter he had kept in his pocket.

I did learn some very interesting information regarding our National Anthem, whether I had previously learned in grade school is questionable, but hey, grade school was just a few years ago for me too.... So here is a brief refresher on "The Star-Spangled Banner":

It was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 with the original poem entitled "Defense of Fort M'Henry". It soon gained popularity when it was sung to the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven". The combined poem and tune was officially made the National Anthem by Congress in 1931 even though it had previously been adopted as a national anthem by the Army and the Navy. At the time Francis Scott Key wrote this poem, our flag had 15 stars and 15 stripes. I had forgotten this little tidbit of information.

There have been occasions (prior to this current political unrest) where both the first and the fourth stanzas have been sung, so this is not the first time the fourth stanza has been sung. In the fourth stanza, Francis Scott Key urged the adoption of "In God is our Trust" as the national motto. The United States adopted the motto "In God we Trust" by law in 1956.

What else I found to be quite interesting is in researching "The Star-Spangled Banner" there was a 5th verse that was added in 1861 during the start of the Civil War (reference: Wikipedia.org). This 5th stanza only appeared in songbooks of the Civil War era.

I believe that as Americans, we should at least know all the stanzas of The Star-Spangled Banner so, for those of you as curious as I was regarding ALL the stanza's in our National Anthem, here they are (we should all know the first stanza...):

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars thro' the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:

'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,

A home and a country should leave us no more?

Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and the slave

From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand

Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;

Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land

Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!"

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

(this 5th stanza was added in 1861 by Oliver Wendell Holmes and only appeared in songbooks of the Civil War period)

When our land is illumined with liberty's smile,

If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,

Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile

The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!

By the millions unchained,

Who their birthright have gainedWe will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;